If Bella Hadn't Jumped
by cara eats books
Summary: Bella decides not to jump at that pivotal moment in New Moon. What happens with Bella's relationship with Jacob? How long before Edward comes back? Will she forgive him? And what is it with Victoria? I stink at summaries. My first fanfic. BPOV for now.


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a/n: This is my first fanfic. Please be kind. (kidding – say what you want to say)

**I do not own Twilight.**

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_The ocean sounded very far away, somehow farther than before, when I was on the path in the trees. I grimaced when I thought of the probable temperature of the water. But I wasn't going to let that stop me._

_The wind blew stronger now, whipping the rain into eddies around me._

_I stepped out to the edge, keeping my eyes on the empty space in front of me. My toes felt ahead blindly, caressing the edge of the rock when they encountered it. I drew in a deep breath and held it…waiting._

_**-new moon, page 358, stephenie meyer**_

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**Chapter One**

"Bella."

I grinned manically as his voice erupted from the depths of my memory. It had been too long.

_Yes?_ I answered, in my head. I let my eyes droop closed, and didn't think about how insane this was. All I could wrap my thoughts around was how incredible his voice was. Smooth and think and rich, even in its concern for me. I could pick it out immediately, without effort, from a crowd of thousands.

I began to grow dizzy and realized that I was still holding that breath. I exhaled in a loud gust – if I fainted before jumping, or falling, no more Edward.

"Don't do this," he begged.

For one second, I almost listened to him.

Almost.

_Try and stop me_, I thought.

I bent my knees, curled my toes around the edge, tensed my muscles, fully intending to carry out my threat.

But that was before I saw the water.

It was a churning, angry mass of gray. The waves were huge and crashed into the side of the cliff with enough force to shake it. Just looking at it was nauseating.

And then some coherent thought managed to prod its way into my delusional, Edward-obsessed brain. It pointed out that the current was causing the waves to slam right against the cliff face, and if I were caught in between, I would be dead. My heartbeat accelerated.

Consciously, I wouldn't mind dying all that much. But subconsciously, something caused me to yank back from the edge, to stumble and land on my butt a good four feet away from the danger.

"Thank you," he said. "That was smart."

I breathed deeply, attempting to slow my pounding heart, and stood up.

I didn't go any nearer to the edge – just far enough so that I could see the water.

And then my heart stopped.

Bobbing in the waves, moving gracefully with the current, was a person. Correction: a vampire. But not just any vampire. I would recognize that flame of orange hair anywhere.

Victoria.

I clawed at my middle automatically as the word "vampire" punched through the hole again.

Her name sent violent tremors up my spine, and the breath whooshed out of my lungs with a faint hiss. My muscles locked down, as if for impact. I felt the blood drain from my face, and my heart picked up hyper drive.

As if sensing my gaze, she stopped swimming. Slowly, her face turned toward me.

She was smiling.

I was running before my fear-locked muscles became unlocked, and it was awkward. I fell a few times, cutting my hands. Not a good thing to do if she decided to follow me. She was super-human, and I new better to doubt that she could climb the cliff face in the time it took me to blink.

I was sprinting through the trees, hoping that I was going towards Billy's place. I didn't want to stop to see.

Trees flew passed, the leaf-strewn ground was a blur. I tripped over roots a couple of times, but I was still running faster than I had ever run in my life.

I ran until I couldn't run anymore, and found that I was completely lost.

Gasping, clutching at the horrible, stabbing pain in my side that had nothing to do with the hole, I sat. My heart roared in my ears, drowning out everything with its deep thudding. Slowly, I leaned over and placed my head between my knees.

I stayed like that for a while, until my breathing and heart rate slowed, and the cramp relaxed.

Thank God I hadn't jumped, I thought. She would have had me quicker than anything, probably before I could die a more peaceful dead of getting slammed against a cliff face or drowning than the one she had planned for me. **(a/n: read that sentence slowly a couple times, and it'll make sense)**

I heard a clap of thunder, and then the hissing sound of rain hitting the leaves in the trees. The drops made plopping noises when they hit the forest floor. I turned my face up to the sky, letting the water wash the perspiration off my face. The coolness felt good on my skin.

I suddenly realized that this was not the place to be. As far as I knew, I was in the middle of nowhere. Victoria could follow my scent, and there would be no one to dim her violence. I could have been out of La Push, with no werewolves to protect me.

Shakily, I stood up. I was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. My clothes were getting drenched, and I was cold.

Gazing around at my surroundings, I tried to pick out the way I had come. I couldn't find it. Everything looked the same.

Ugh.

Pick a direction and go in it, Bella. Just pick a direction.

Right. I would go right.

I lifted my foot to take a step.

"Freeze," Edward ordered. "Don't move."

That was when I heard it – the low, triumphant laughter. Woman's laughter.


End file.
